Can You Guys Help?

Seriously, no flamming here.

Over at RBR we've been having a spirited discussion about Nike possibly (and now it seems actually) changing our uniforms for a single game in 2010. Now, as Rebel fans are sure to be aware, if there is one thing Bama fans hate the most its when people start messin with our tradition. Its just something you don't F with.

One topic that came up was that they might change our helmet design.( Seriously Nike better not Fuck with perfection). Anyways, Kleph pointed us to this website which lists each SEC teams different helmets design. When looking at the different Rebel versions one kind of stood out to a few of us.

via i467.photobucket.com

Ole Miss used a version of a blueish helmet and a red Colonel Reb from 1970- 1982. So here comes the question that was posed and one i foolishly tried to answer. Why was Colonel Reb red? Obviously, Red, White and Blue are Ole Miss's colors and in this version, blue isn't an option. But in every version with the Reb on the helmet, he's always red. I posed it could be dated back to the Civil War in where on battle fields, paintings and the such, the color red was widely used to signify the Confederate Army...Much like how Alabama's face masks are gray to honor the fact that UA was a military school in the 1860's and to those who died for the state....

Now being a history major at FSU and an avid CIvil War fan, I always want to find out the history behind such things. So color me a nerd and I only suggested this out of an opinion. So I figured going and asking those who might actually know would be better than just guessing...

Can any of you guys shed a little light on why Colonel Reb is red? There might be no historical significance but you never know about these things.

Thanks for any help you guys can give...